heh, a couple people think their car is slower after the update, I'm not saying it isn't true, but really..... the only way to really find out is to measure the difference somehow.... how would you go about measuring the difference if you say to forget the dyno???

 

..............I must say that I am at a total loss to understand why you are actually letting your car sit at dealer waiting to be nuttered. Even if you don't believe there will be a problem with the ECU reflash, what possible gain are you expecting to derive from it? What advantage has your dealer told you to expect from the reflash that once done CANNOT be undone. God is trying to tell you something but you are not listening. I can't believe it.

Ted

 

Long time lurker, infrequent poster. I too did the recall some weeks ago, and felt a loss of perceived power...it went from scary fast to merely fast. Thought it might be the hot weather here in So Cal. I too drive a regular route like VETLUVER, and am fearful that I will now encounter M3s, Porsches and other former playthings...and lose. The emotional strain of this change in performance drove me to sprinkle powdered Viargra in the intake...no luck. Then I tried walking the aisles of Pep Boys and reading the JC Whitney catalogue looking for the magic juice...no luck. I'm afraid that I'll be joining the class action as an emotionally scarred amg (notice amg is now lower case) driver.

Make no mistake...this weak attempt at humor covers up my true feelings...that we'd better get to the bottom of this using all the good thoughts others have expressed.

 

As a Mercedes owner and a Ford owner I can relate to your frustration. Going back to the first post the whole deal over the 1999 Cobra was that the naturally aspirated 4.6L 4v motor did not make anywhere near the advertised 320hp. Ford's fix was to issue "kits" to SVT dealers to install on customers cars that responded to the recall, as well as retrofit any unsold cars. The "kit" was based on a revised intake manifold (essentially a ported and polished version of the stock manifold), higher flowing catback exhaust, and a computer reflash. The fix worked and mostly everyone was satisfied and figured it was an isolated problem with the first year production of the revised 4 cam 4.6L engines that had evolved from 305hp previous versions.

My brother had a then new 1999 Cobra and he had the recall done and was happy. There was no year 2000 4.6L Cobra. The 2001 Cobras came out essentially the same as the 1999 with the exception of some minimal interior and exterior restyling and a newer version of the T-45 5 spd transmission. I bought a new 2001 Cobra as a fun project vehicle, I had it dynoed within the first couple months I had it and it was right at 275rwhp, right as advertised, the only problem was that myself and many other 2001 Cobra owners had absolutely ridiculous problems with, amongst others, a horribly shifting transmission (I had it replaced twice), vibration from the irs as well as weak irs components, and the worst of all was moderate to extreme pinging/detonation that became worse as the motor ran hot. My car was in and out of the dealer numerous times for miscellaneous recalls for the transmission and vibration issues, with poor results. To get back to the specifics of this thread I took the car in for a recall/tsb associated with the pinging/detonation, the fix was a computer reflash. The reflash did all but eliminate the pinging but it also noticeably retarded the performance, I wouldn't say it hurt upper rpm range hp and trq but low to midrange was absolutely dismal after the reflash. The dealers response was that it was a Ford issued procedure and "what do you want us to do about it type attitude". Most likely Ford wanted to detune these motors before they had a rash of cases of stock or mildly modified engines blowing holes in the tops of pistons or otherwise wrecking the motor. Apparently Ford tried to distance itself from the 1999 Cobra issue by making changes to the 2001 Cobra engine production, different computer tune most likely caused problems with the existing compression ratio and fuel/air as well as these motors running hot frequently. I was to say the least not pleased at all. As this was my project vehicle I modded it beyond the point of being concerned about the canned tune Ford had given me and just had it reworked with a tuner, but I was never really happy with that car and especially how Ford performed work on the car that made it less of a performance vehicle than what I had expected when purchasing it.
I traded that 2001 Cobra in the day I took a new 2004 Cobra for a test drive, I had no sooner pulled out of the dealers lot and gone through 2 or 3 gears when I knew that I had to have it, as a project vehicle to mod it is incredible. Ford finally did it right and put in the Viper spec 6spd T-56 transmission, but the best thing they did was put new heads and an Eaton Supercharger on a built iron block. I had my 2004 Cobra for about 2,000 miles when I had it dynoed, bone stock it showed 376hp and 374tq at the wheels, this is really the norm for these motors, just about all dynoed stock Cobras are in the 420+ hp range at the motor. It is nice to see the evolution of power over the old motors. Swapping out the Eaton blower for a pullied Whipple unit along with a host of other relatively inexpensive and streetable mods and dyno tuning will take these motors to over 500rwhp reliably.

While I won't modify my Mercedes, as a Mercedes owner I know we expect premium service from the dealer, I am on my third SL500, the first two were pre 2002, I traded my 02 silver arrow on a 05 SL500, after 3 SL's and different dealer visits I have experienced the range of customer service just as varied as when I had troubles with my 01' Cobra. The key to getting some satisfaction is to be polite and to document what is done to your car at the dealer. Get the dealer owner involved, sometimes the service advisor is just too inundated with his work to attack the problem with the tenacity you would expect. As I don't own an AMG vehicle I can't relate to Mercedes AMG premium service but I do know that from my experience with Ford / SVT just because you own the top of the line performance vehicle from that manufacturer doesn't necessarily mean the service advisor even knows what the differences are between a SLK230 and a SL65.
I hope you get some kind of resolution for your vehicles performance problems post-reflash, It is quite possible that a certain number of cars have reacted negatively to the reflash, just remember that the dealer is just doing what they are authorized and instructed to do by MB, with enougth complaints, questions and inquiries a solution is very likely to emerge.

 

Which law?

 

OK, if even one car has had "THE" dreaded recall flash and still running identically to prior (you cant argue with identical timeslips!), then wouldnt that suggest that anyone else who is losing power is doing so via another reason?

 

I think after reflash your car will learn your driving over again and maybe thats why it doesnt feel as good as before.